Car dryer



Jan. 9, 1968 1J. T. KIRKLAND CAR DRYER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 9,' 1965 A T TORNEY Jan. 9,1968 J T. KlRKLAND CAR DRYER 2 SheetsfSheet 2 Filed April 9, 1965 INVENTOR. AJose PH T- KIRKLAND BYW ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,362,349 CAR DRYER Joseph T. Kirkland, 145 N. Kingston St., San Mateo, Calif. 94401 Filed Apr. 9, 1965, Ser. No. 447,036 2 Claims. (Cl. 104-44) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to improvements in a car dryer. It consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of this invention is to provide a car dryer wherein a turntable isu-tilized for conveying cars from an incoming track to open outgoing track, whereby a number of cars may be handled at one time.

A further object of the invention is to provide a plurality of dryers mounted adjacent to the periphery of the turntable in a position to bear against the front and rear end portions :of `a =washed ca-r as the latter is turned by the turntable.

A sti-ll further object of the invention is to provide a turntable having a pair of guide track channels secured to the upper surface of the turntable for receiving the wheels of washed cars, and wherein either of these guide track channels may be aligned with either the incoming or the outgoing tracks, whereby the movement of cars through the dryer may be expedited.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the speciication proceeds. The novel features of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Drawings For a better understanding of the invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of my car dryer with the turntable arranged in one predetermined position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken along the plane 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the plane 4--4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view similar to FIG. l, but with the turntable rotated into another predetermined position.

While I have shown only the preferred embodiment of my invention, it should be understood that various changes, or modifications, may be made within the scope of the appended claims Without departing from the spirit thereof.

Detailed description Referring to the drawings in detail, an incoming track A has been shown that extends toward a turntable B which is arranged to receive the right-hand wheels of a car C1. Prior to reaching the position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the car C1 passes a water-jet frame 11 that ice straddles the track A so that water will -issue Ifrom nozzles 12 against the top 13 and opposite sides 14 of the car, as the latter is advanced.

Then the car C1 advances under an overhead washer 15 and between laterally spaced side washers 16-16 thereby scrubbing the car. Next, the car passes through a rinser 17, with rinse water issuing from nozzles 18 against Vthe car so as l'to remove all dirt and yother foreign matter from the car.

It Will Ibe noted that the turntable B is rotatable about its axis 19 and may be turned by power means D and is made to support a car or cars, such as designated by C2 and C3. A iirst guide track channel 20 is secured to the upper surface of the turntable B to receive ihe wheels 10 of the car, for instance, the car C2 in FIG. 1. This guide track channel is oifset relative to the axis of rotation of the turntable, thus permitting the two cars to be supported on the turntable at the same time.

In the event that the owner of lthe car only desires a wet-wash job, the car may be removed along a track channel 21. However, if the car is to be dried, the turntable may be turned in the direction of the arrow 22 shown in FIG. 1 through a predetermined amount, for example until the first guide track channel 20 is aligned with an outgoing track E as disclosed in FIG. 5 of the drawing.

As the turntable B is turned, a plurality of dryers F that are mounted adjacent to the periphery 23 of the turntable are positioned to bear against the front and rear end portions 24 and 25, respectively, of a washed car as the latter is turned by the turntable. Of course, the car will be reversed end for end when the turntable is rotated through 180.

Each dryer F is rotatably mounted about its axis and is supported by a suitable frame 26, the dryer deiining a cylindrical sleeve 27 of absorbent material disposed to engage lwith the portion of the car being dried. Each drier is spring-loaded with its spring 28 being biased to yieldingly urge 'the |dryer -into enga-gement with the car. These springs are shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings.

When the rst guide track channel 20 is aligned with the outgoing track E, the car such as indicated at C3 may be transferred to this outgoing track. For the purpose of speeding up the operation, I have provided a second guide track channel 2-9 that is secured to the upper surface of the turntable B and being offset on the opposite side of the axis of rotation 19 from that of the first guide track channel 20. The iirst and second guide track channels are arranged parallel with one another and are spaced at the same distance as the spacing of the incoming and outgoing tracks A and E, respectively, whereby either guide track channel may be aligned with either the incoming or outgoing tracks. This arrangement `will permit two cars, such as C2 and C3 to be handied on the turntable at one time without unnecessary turning of the turntable to elfect transfer of the cars from the incoming track to the outgoing track. It will be noted that the straight-ahead track channel 21 is aligned with the incoming track A and that either of the guide track channels 20 or 29 will provide a bridge therebetween (see FIGS. 1 and 5).

As shown in FIG. l, the car C3 may be advanced in the direction of arrow 30= and will pass under an overhead dryer G. The details of this dryer are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings. The dryer G has a perforated drum 31 that is mounted for rotation about a substantially horizontal aXis. Moreover, a cylindrical `sleeve 32 of absorbent material is mounted around the perforated drum and is disposed to engage with the top 13 of a washed car, when the car is moved thereunder to thus absorb water from the car top (see FIG. 3).

It will be observed that a frame structure 33 supports the perforated drum 31 land its sleeve 32 for vertical movement so that the sleeve will contact the top of the car, and the drum and its sleeve will be rotated by movement of the car. The frame structure 33 is swingably attached by rod 34 to standards 35 so that the drum and sleeve will gravitate toward the car top (see FIG. 1).

Moreover, a wringer roller 36 bears against the cylindrical sleeve 32 so as to squeeze water from the latter for passage through the perforations 37 of the drum into the interior of this drum. A catch basin 3S is mounted in the drum interior in a position to receive Water squeezed out of the sleeve (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The wringer roller 36 has its trunnions 39 mounted in vertical slots 40 formed in the frame structure 33 so that this roller will gra'vitate against the sleeve 32.

For the purpose of conveying accumulated water from the catch basin 38, an outlet conduit 41 is connected to the basin, and this conduit has a flexible section 42 whereby the drum and sleeve may move up and down.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a pair of side dryers H are provided on opposite sides of the car moving along the outgoing track E. Each of these dyers has a perforated drum 43 mounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis, and a cylindrical sleeve 44 of absorbent material is mounted around this drum and being engageable with an adjacent side 14 of the car (see FIG. 3). This will remove water from the side of a washed car.

In order to support the drum 43 and its sleeve 44, a frame structure 4S has been provided. The base 46 of the frame structure Amay be slidably mounted in a guideway 47 so that the sleeve 44 will contact with the car side and thus the drum and its sleeve will be rotated by movement of the car. Each side dryer H has a wringer roller 48 bearing against the sleeve 44 so as to squeeze water from the latter for passage through the perforations 49 of the drum 43 into the interior of the latter. An outlet conduit 50 is connected to the interior of each drum for conveying accumulated Water therefrom.

The base 46 of the frame structure 45 may be yieldingly urged by springs 51 so as to carry the drum 43 and its sleeve 44 toward the car side (see FIG. 3).

After passing the overhead dryer G and the side dryers H, the car may pass through an air dryer I where air nozzles 52 will discharge air against the top and sides of the car to further dry any water that may remain, thus completing the drying operation.

I claim:

1. In a car dryer:

(a) a turntable mounted for rotation about an axis and being made to support awcar;

(b) a guide track channel secured to an upper surface of the turntable to receive wheels of the car, this guide track channel being offset relative to the axis of rotation of the turntable;

(c) an incoming track along which a car may be moved, and this incoming track being aligned with the guide track channel on the turntable when the turntable is moved into a predetermined position, whereby a washed car may be transferred to the turntable;

(d) an outgoing track arranged for alignment with the guide track channel on the turntable when the turntable is turned into another predetermined position, whereby the car may -be transferred from the turntable to the outgoing track;

(e) the incoming and outgoing tracks being straight and arranged in parallel and spaced relation with one another;

(f) a second guide track channel secured to the upper surface of the turntable and being offset on the opposite side of the axis of rotation of the turntable from that of the rst guide track channel;

(g) and the first and second guide track channels being straight and arranged parallel with one another and spaced at the same distance apart as the spacing of the incoming and outgoing tracks, whereby either guide track channel on the turntable may be aligned with either the incoming or outgoing tracks.

2. The car dryer, `as set forth in claim 1;

(h) and in which a straight-ahead track channel is aligned with the incoming track and either of the guide track channels on the turntable will provide a bridge therebetween, whereby a washed car may be transferred from the incoming track to the straightahead track channel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,827,886 10/1931 Gillespie 104-44 3,037,223 6/1962 Lovsey 15-97 X 3,038,192 6/1962 McNeill 15-98 X 3,079,620 3/1963 Hunter 15-98 X ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner'.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Examiner.

L. G. MACHLIN, Assistant Examiner. 

